Appalachia is known for it's influential coal-mining industry. For over a century, people have supported their families by mining coal. These jobs are being lost and mountains are being destroyed because of something called mountaintop removal.

Appalachia is one of the oldest mountain ranges on Earth. It stretches from Newfoundland in Eastern Canada down to Georgia, spreading about 2,000 miles. From the lively small country towns in the South to the industrial cities of New York and Pennsylvania, the Appalachian Mountains encompass the eastern United States.

The mountaintops are removed for a process called strip mining, in which heavy equipment extracts coal. Over a million acres of land have been mined and according to Mountain Justice, a group that seeks abolition of mountaintop removal, states that coal companies have "forever buried over 1,200 miles of biologically crucial Appalachian headwaters stream".

In 2004, a flood occured in Mingo County, West Virgina. If the mountaintops were still in place, there would not have been space for the floodwaters to stretch through the valley. Several homes and properties and homes were destroyed in this catastrophe.

The Appalachian Mountains must be protectected and preserved for futrue generations. The mountains need to be saved before it's too late.